Lucidbeaming: Embers

Lucidbeaming: Embers

In conjunction with the exhibition Surreal Sublime, San Jose based artist Lucidbeaming will light up the ICA’s Lounge Gallery with his interactive sculpture Embers.

A fire needs fuel and air to burn. Without enough of both, it smolders and dies. Collective human experiences, both creative and political, share similar needs. This relationship can be demonstrated through an aesthetic and mechanical simulation of fanning and igniting the embers of a bed of potentially self-sustaining energetic reactions. As air moves across the surface, LEDS glow with an incendiary palette from black to brown to orange to yellow to white, depending on air volume and momentum.

By fanning and blowing on the piece, viewers create cross flows and (through collective effort) make the LEDs glow from red to white, which triggers a self-sustaining glow similar to a fire being ignited. After a short period, if the viewers reduce the effort or stop fanning, the LED “fire” will cycle back down to a dark ember-like state. The fire dies.

A person alone may not be able to generate enough movement. A collective effort is needed to keep the fire alive, especially if a sustained force is in opposition. This piece encourages collaboration and engagement with other viewers.